Orioles To Hold Trevor Rogers

The trade deadline has now passed and left-hander Trevor Rogers is staying on the Orioles, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Orioles players might be off today, but president of baseball operations and GM Mike Elias certainly wasn’t.  With his team standing at 54-58 and 2.5 games back for a wild card spot, Elias made six trades prior to today’s 5pm central time deadline, shipping out Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, Tyler Wells, and minor league pitcher Joe Glassey while also making a pair of late-breaking pickups for Rece Hinds and Codi Heuer.  He also sent starter Dean Kremer packing on Friday.  Despite that frenzy of activity, the 28-year-old Rogers will stay in Baltimore for the remainder of the season.

Having missed much of the season with a quad strain, Kremer hadn’t been a significant part of the Orioles’ rotation this year.  They’ve still got a solid quartet in place with Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, Rogers, and Brandon Young.  Veteran Chris Bassitt may return soon from back surgery.

The Orioles may also be able to hold serve behind the dish in the absence of Rutschman, with new addition Carlos Narvaez as well as Samuel Basallo.  Dylan Beavers can slide in for Ward in left field.  Baltimore will have to weather Wells’ departure from the bullpen.  All in all, though, the Orioles may only have lost a point or two off their 17-18% chance of stealing a wild card spot after accounting for today’s dealings.

Rogers has pitched to a 4.27 ERA so far this year, already matching last year’s 109 2/3 innings.  He’s managed a 2.21 mark since June, which is not entirely supported by his 15.2 K-BB% during that time.  The lefty appears worthy of a qualifying offer after the season, which MLBTR projects around $23.1MM.  If Rogers turns that down and signs for $50MM or more – a distinct possibility – the Orioles would stand to gain a draft pick directly after the first round in 2027.  That’s the mechanism by which fifth-ranked Orioles prospect Wehiwa Aloy was chosen in 2025, for example, when Anthony Santander departed for Toronto.

Logically, Elias weighed the offers for Rogers against that potential draft pick, while also considering his club’s remaining decent chance of making the playoffs this year.  There’s also the possibility of an extension for Rogers; the Orioles have dished three of them out this year to Baz, Bradish, and Yennier Cano.  Put it all together and that’s how an impending free agent stays put on a 54-58 club.